1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plow trenching apparatus for tools attached to a carrier vehicle, such as a mini tractor of the skid steer type. Examples of tools are drainage tubing plows or cable laying plows, i.e. tools used for laying tubing or cable in one operation (without having to dig a trench, lay the tubing/cable and then fill the trench). More specifically, the trenching apparatus makes it possible to perform trenching operations with a mini tractor by pushing the tool, i.e. the mini tractor travelling in a forward direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, different approaches have been tried to perform the trenching and cable/pipe laying operations in one operation. Cable plow equipment is shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,496,135, 3,746,100, 5,482,121, 4,164,982, 4,140,425, 4,867,607, 5,743,675, 5,108,229, 5,827,013, 4,397,585, 4,629,363 and 5,190,409. A common characteristic of all the devices shown in these documents is that the tool is either permanently attached to a vehicle or attached to the rear of a vehicle, and both types are pulled behind the vehicle. This means that either the vehicle is backing up during operation, if the tool is attached to the front of the vehicle, or the tool is attached to a special tool holder arranged at the rear of the vehicle. In both instances, the vehicle operator has problems viewing either the ground in front of the vehicle or the tool during its plowing action.
An especially beneficial arrangement of an adjustable blade holder is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,141. The plow is held in a holder which is pivotably arranged on arms attached to a vehicle. The plow is movable in the vertical direction with regard to the holder using, for example, a hydraulic cylinder. In this way, the position of the plow blade can be adjusted relative the holder to effectively change the depth of the plow cut in the soil.
A trenching plow having replaceable tip wear components is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,888.
Small skid steer loader vehicles are known and used where a lightweight and compact vehicle is necessary. The loader arms of this type of vehicle have a tool mount for accepting different types of tools, for example scraper blades, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,131, or a trench vibratory compactor, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,590. Neither of these implements are suitable for plow cable/pipe laying.